ICLEI USA has been expanding our regional support model to more directly serve our members. Thanks to the generous support of the following ICLEI members and host cities, we currently operate regional offices in: California Regional Office - Oakland, Calif. Northeast Regional Office - Boston, Mass. Pacific Northwest and Islands Regional Office - Seattle, Wash. Western States Regional Office - Denver, Colo. South Central Regional Office - Houston, Texas Midwest Regional Office - Chicago, Ill.

Regional Updates!

• Southeast: ICLEI Presented on sustainability issues to mayors and other key local government staff at Southern Municipal Conference in Wilmington, NC; led workshop sessions on taking leadership roles with advanced greenhouse gas reduction measures at Beyond Lightbulbs Hybrids Workshop in Miami, FL; assisted Chattanooga, TN envision and develop a Climate Action Plan and community engagement event; provided ongoing member and inventory support to local governments in the region; increased ICLEI membership by 16% in Q2 including the key local governments of Fulton County, FL; Pinellas County, FL; and Oak Ridge, TN.
• Midwest: During Q2, the Chicago-based office hosted ICLEI's first Midwest Local Government Climate Protection network event; advanced the development of the Chicago Green Office Challenge, an innovative program to significantly improve the environmental performance of commercial buildings as a key implementation strategy of Chicago's Climate Action Plan; and led two regional summits advancing climate protection initiatives in Southwest Ohio and the St. Louis metropolitan area.
• Western States: The Western States regional office continues its efforts to raise the profile of ICLEI throughout the Intermountain West. New member growth during the second quarter remained strong, particularly in Arizona and Colorado. The regional office has been represented at numerous conferences and events, including the 2008 American Planning Association conference in Las Vegas, and has been active in forging a number of new regional collaboration opportunities. Highlights for the third quarter and second half of 2008 include the launching of the Western States state and regional networks, leading ICLEI's engagement with the 30% Solution building energy code campaign, and increasing ICLEI's support to the implementation of the climate action plan of the Western States region office host city, Denver.
  
• Pacific Northwest: The Pacific Northwest regional office has continued to attract multiple members from each of the states in the region, including Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. In May, ICLEI regional staff presented at the first annual climate meeting of the Alaska Municipal League the opportunity to meet representatives of all six of our Alaska members. ICLEI state networks have been launched throughout the region, and ICLEI is working with governments to figure out the best way to serve the distinct sub-regions in each state. We are in the process of hiring a Program Associate to meet our growing membership needs and look forward to being able to increase our level of our services in the Northwest.
• Northeast and Mid-Atlantic: Q2 was jam-packed in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Activities included the following: held the first Maine Cities for Climate Protection Network meeting and hosted an April Massachusetts state network meeting; distributed an additional 14 direct-assistance grants to cab owners to purchase hybrid vehicles, bringing the total number of hybrid cabs in Boston to 50; worked with the City of Boston, Northeastern University and the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers to host the second municipal climate adaptation workshop on May 30th; concluded the NYC Mayoral Challenge Project which helped 10 Universities in NYC develop greenhouse gas emissions inventories; organized The Future of Transportation: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions along the Connecticut River Corridor, a local government summit to discuss how land use and transportation planning methods are being used to address climate change by reducing vehicle miles traveled; and signed on the first ICLEI member in West Virginia - welcome, Fayetteville!
• South Central: In May 2008, the City of Dallas hosted an ICLEI Texas Networking meeting that gave attendees an overview of existing and under-development tools and resources and an introduction to Sarah Weingarden, ICLEI's new Senior Program Officer based in Houston serving the South Central region. The Texas Clean Air Cities Coalition was given a 2008 Climate Protection Award from the U.S. EPA in May.
• California: Q2 saw the establishment of a dedicated California Regional members support team within its Oakland headquarters to meet the rapidly growing member support needs of its California members, with Deputy Director Gary Cook moving to take on the role as California Director. The California Team has been very active supporting several new county wide initiatives to support inventories and action plans with several Bay Area counties, include Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin, and just launched a regional project with 25 ICLEI members in Silicon Valley to support the completion of inventories. Q2 also saw a significant increase in new California members, including the addition of the largest county in the U.S. by population, Los Angeles, and looks to work more intensively with its Southern California members in the second half of 2008.
  

Staff at these regional offices are dedicated to supporting and addressing the specific needs of ICLEI jurisdictions in those regions.

ICLEI staff based in our Oakland headquarters are currently providing regional support for California and the Southeast. The Northeast regional office currently covers the Mid-Atlantic region.

Find out more about what's happening in your region and locate your ICLEI liaison with our Map